After taking in the prospect on all sides we rang a bell, which summoned a man, who directed us towards a door in the side of the dome, where a custode was waiting to admit us.
The custode showed us an ancient manuscript of the Decameron; likewise, a volume containing the portraits of Petrarch and of Laura, each covering the whole of a vellum page, and very finely done.
The custode soon returned, and led us down the darksome steps, chattering in Italian all the time.
The custode pointed to a small figure of St. Sebastian, and also to a vase around which the reliefs seemed to assume life.
Each visitor was provided with a wax taper, and the custodegave one to each of us, bidding us wait a moment while he conducted the other party to the upper air.
We likewise saw an antique casket of wood, enriched with gilding, which had once contained an arm of John the Baptist,--so the custode told us.
In the upper cell the custodeshowed us an ancient flight of stairs, now built into the wall, which used to lead from the Capitol.
The custode informed us that there were more frescos of this pious artist in the interior of the convent, into which I might be allowed admittance, but not my wife.
The custode dipped an iron ladle into the miraculous water, and we each of us drank a sip; and, what is very remarkable, to me it seemed hard water and almost brackish, while many persons think it the sweetest in Rome.
The custode now led us back through the Hall of Audience into a smaller room, hung with pictures chiefly of the Medici and their connections, among whom was one Carolina, an intelligent and pretty child, and Bianca Capella.
Separated from this by an iron gate, which is locked, except on Mondays, but opened by a custode (fee 50 c.
On the right, on entering the palace, is the small Collection of Pictures (open when the custode chooses to be there), indifferently lodged for a building so magnificent.
Even until late years an especial guardian has been appointed to take care of it, with an annual stipend of ten scudi a year, and the title of "Il custode del Cavallo.
Usually the church is closed, except in the early morning, and visitors are admitted by the custode on ringing a door bell under the portico.
The custode directed my attention to it with an air of great admiration, and could not understand the scowl with which I turned away my face.
Not so the custode of the house: it was from him I had the rest.
The custode said that he believed they could not, but I bade him be silent and begone.
Reason told me that Peppino and I were safe, we were on the platform; nevertheless accidents do happen and there was the poor custode on the line.
The custode glanced at her as she drew near and I thought he flinched.
Via Angelo Custode was situated two doors from a large, gray, dismal mansion, which was closed up.
But His Excellency's wife did not acknowledge his bow, and passed on, proceeding towards the Via Angelo Custode along the pavement.
Descending a flight of stone steps, thecustode admitted us into two fine vaulted chambers, decorated each after its own manner.
On looking through a small break in one side of it, we perceived two skeletons, lying side by side, supposed, thecustode told us, to have been husband and wife.
But while we strained our eyes to pierce the gloom the custode turned on an electric light hidden behind the cornice, and straightway we forgot everything in the wonder of the scene before us.
The custode was very anxious we should make the classic tour with him but we told him we knew the place--it was by no means our first visit.
The custode says he only walks when it is quite fine, is afraid of the damp or wind, but that he goes out every day.
We thanked our old custode very warmly (and in many ways) for having brought us to the window, and also said good-bye to him, as this of course was our last visit to the Vatican.
We heard an animated parley at the gate of the Villa, and the custode appeared to say the carriage was there and the coachman said it was time to start if we wanted to get back to Rome before nightfall.
It is the admitted privilege of a custode who loves his cathedral to depreciate, in its comparison, all the other cathedrals of his country that resemble, and all the edifices on the globe that differ from it.
We denounced these assassins to the smiling custode of the grounds, and he promised, smilingly, to bar the entrance to them thenceforth; but he was a smiling deceiver; our enemies came just the same.
Just beneath the ball there is a circular room capable of containing a large company, and a door which ought to give access to a gallery on the outside; but the custode informed us that this door is never opened.
We had to wait some time here while the keys were fetched; we then followed the custodeup an old stone staircase to an ante-chapel to see the frescoes of Ottaviano Nelli.
We went upstairs, and were told that the custode of the museum was not in, but if we waited he would be sure to come soon.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "custode" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
